


Dreaming Holds the Heart Up

by whitelotus276



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-07 22:41:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15917745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitelotus276/pseuds/whitelotus276
Summary: The one where Phil's a bagger at a superstore and Dan can't help but to try and speak to him





	1. ~chapter one~

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty new to this, but I promise it'll get better. I always appreciate constructive criticism! I apologize for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy!

_ What a heavenly way to die…  _ Dan muttered to himself, while, for the second time that day, peering cautiously behind a stack of precariously placed soup cans.

It was none the other than Phil Lester that caused Dan to find himself in these situations day by day. Phil was a bagger at Supreme Stan's’ Superstore, which, in Dan's’ opinion, was a place of excessive alliterations, but no mind on that matter.

The first time Dan had stepped foot in that ridiculous store, he had been in search of fudge pops for his best friend, Sterling, who had assured him £20 if Dan returned with a box. As neither Dan nor Sterling had cars at the time, Dan walked, and after a quick downpour, he decided it just wasn’t worth the £20, but ducked into the nearest store anyways.

Then he saw Phil. With a lovely contrast of raven black hair and pale milky skin with eccentric blue eyes to tie in the two, he was undoubtedly the most breathtaking man Dan had ever laid his eyes upon. 

After slipping into the bathroom and hastily dabbing towels at his damp curls and then practically sprinting to the fudge pops, he returned to the counter only for the man to be gone.

Dan sighed and slid over the “frozen fudge sticks” (much too close to another alliteration for Dan's’ comfort) to a woman in her mid forties with too much eyeshadow applied to her tired eyes. 

She glanced up at him staring longingly at the sliding doors.

“Life’s full of disappointments, kid,” she said giving him a knowing glance “never seen someone run  _ that _ fast in my store before.”

Dan rubbed at his neck “Would it be legal for you to give me his name?”

She stared at him for a full 10 seconds before replying. “Phil,” she passed over his bag “but only because you look desperate.”

From that day forward, Supreme Stan's’ Superstore was Dan's go to shop. From lettuce to toilet paper, he was there. 

Dan was snapped back into reality when his  _ truly favorite  _ worker, Deborah, patted him on the shoulder and told him that it was “borderline creepy how often you stare behind those cans, Dan.” 

Dan smiled cheerily. “No no, Deborah. See, I was just picking up my dinner! Must’ve forgotten again,” he tapped his head “silly old Dan, you know me.” He reached out for the nearest can and glanced at it and then took a double take upon reading the label. He turned back to Deborah with a forced awkward smile. “Mmm, I love me some lentils, aye Deb?” 

Deborah turned around and wandered off while muttering “I pray every night for the day this man leaves and I’ve received nothing. Nothing.” 

Dan grimaced and headed towards the register.

“Back again, mate?” Phil asked, barely glancing up at Dan while scanning the lentils, a smile present on his lips. 

“Dinner.” Dan replied shyly.

Phil looked up at him. His smile reached up to his eyes, twinkling. “There’s nothing like a yummy dinner of lentil soup.”

Dan held his hand over his heart in mock hurt. “How dare you shame my cravings.”

Phil chuckled “No worries. When I was seven, I ate pickles every day after school for three months straight.,” he handed Dan the lentils with a pondering face. “I don’t think I’ve touched a pickle since.”

Dan smiled. “Well good luck with your playful pickle problem,” he giggled a little to himself  “this store really puts those alliterations in your head.”

Phil grinned. “I suppose it does.”

Dan exited Supreme Stan's’ Superstore with a giddy smile on his face and a fluttering feeling in his heart. 

 

oOo

 

Dan walked back into his home and tossed the lentils on his couch where he’d tossed a bag of chex mix for snacking earlier that day. He heard a grunt when the can hit the surface. Dan continued walking and rolled his eyes. “I really do have to change the locks on this place soon.” He said loud enough to be heard from the room over.

Sterling limped into the kitchen, a hand over his chest. “I’ve been wounded mate.”

Dan turned back to him, hands on his hips and an amused smile on his face. “Stop sneaking into my house then, Sterling. I have a tendency to throw many stray objects on that couch.”

“I noticed…,” Sterling muttered while making himself comfortable in one of the kitchen chairs. “So...back at the triple S again? How is Phil lately?” He smirked

Dan shot him a glare “Oh shush. I needed dinner so I grabbed some lentils.”

Sterling stared at him very unimpressed. “Dan, you hate soup. And lentils for that matter. Did you even say more than two words to Philly this time?”

The smile was evident in Dan’s voice. “We had a conversation about pickles.”

Sterling rolled his eyes. “God forbid when you open your mouth around that man you have an actual normal conversation.”

“Hey, we were bonding!”

Sterling stood. “Dan, to get you out of this apartment and,” he nearly laughed “Supreme Stans’ Superstore, I am inviting you to a party to socialize and make friends other than Mr. Phil.” He headed towards the door. “I shall pick you up at seven o’clock on the dot tomorrow.” he grinned “Don’t be late Dan.” The door closed behind him.

Dan sighed but was still euphoric from the days earlier interactions.

Sterling and him were always attending parties that Dan always ended up barely participating in and then driving drunk Sterling, who could barely walk, home. He knew that Sterling would never take no for an answer though. He decided to make the best of it the next night and awaited Sterlings knock at the door...


	2. ~two~

To say the least, Dan wasn’t concerned until he was at the party.

Sterling had picked him up as usual in his fashion: late and dressed up, despite his ‘seven o’clock on the dot’. Dan scrolled through tumblr in the car while Sterling sang loudly—and rather obnoxiously—to the radio. After the hellos, their conversation consisted of “are we seriously listening to this song?” “You are exceptionally bad at singing.” And “THAT IS A RED LIGHT STERLING.” 

Upon arriving at the party, Sterling was greeted by a bunch of people and then proceeded to be dragged off to the drinks. Dan, on the other hand, inspected the situation. 

Despite the fairly early time of evening, people were already dancing and grinding in the cleared out living room while others mingled with drinks and chatted with friends.

Dan filled a cup with a drink he did not expect to drink, as he was usually Sterling’s personal driver, and settled against a wall. Sterling, who was already tipsy, stated that Dan was here to make friends, and introduced him to a group of people. The people were nice but Dan always struggled to click with others. He made basic small talk until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Well, I never thought I’d have pegged you as a party type.” Said a familiar voice.

Dan whipped around, his eyes widened as amber met blue. He collected himself quickly. “Well maybe you need to get to know me better.”

Phil grinned. “I may take you up on that offer.”

Dan suddenly felt inclined to take another sip to get the liquid courage running through his body at least a little bit. “You know, you’re kinda right.” Dan smiled back at Phil. “I’m not exactly the party type, yet I find myself at them a lot.” He pointed to Sterling, who appeared to be having the time of his life. “That’s my best friend.  _ He’s  _ the party animal. I, on the other hand, am simply just his humble chauffeur at the end of the night.”

Phil gave him a quizzical look. “Shouldn’t you be more than a chauffeur?”

Dan shrugged, watching Sterling dance. “I come to these to get out of my flat. Sterling, the friend, brings me to get me out there and meet people. He kinda stops his mission after the ‘getting me out’ part, though. I don’t mind it too much, you can learn a lot about people from being the quieter person.” 

“Like what?” the blue-eyed man asked.

Dan smiled and told him his extensive knowledge on the five types of drunks. He found it so strange that talking to Phil was coming so easy to him. And hey, maybe blame it on the alcohol, but to Dan, the way he felt a subconscious pull towards Phil, nearly felt like an act of fate.

After it got loud enough that neither of the men could hear the other, Phil gently grabbed Dan’s arm and lifted his lips to his ear. Dan’s heartbeat quickened. “Do you wanna go someplace else a little, erm, quieter?” Phil asked nearly shouting despite being so close. Dan nodded his head. 

Their conversations had been going so well with never ending topics to discuss. He never wanted to stop getting to know Phil. 

Phil started walking and motioned for Dan to follow. He seemed to know this house quite well, and after several turns down hallways, Phil led him down a staircase which led to a basement. The basement was open and painted white to add to the “not damp” typical basement feel. It actually felt quite comfortable and homey. A washer and dryer were shoved into the corner of the room and to accompany it, was a bar and a tank of iguanas. There was a couch in the middle, and a TV against the wall.

Phil giggled at Dan’s reaction to the animals. “They’re bearded dragons.” 

He laughed harder as the look on Dan’s face intensified. He turned to Phil in awe.

“You’re telling me they have little  _ beards _ ?” 

Phil guided him to the tank and showed him how the two iguanas appeared to have facial hair. “That one’s Marcy and the other one is Cammy.” Dan gave him a questioning look. “Don’t ask, I didn’t name them.” 

Dan settled on the couch. “What about the bar?” he asked.

Phil shrugged. “I assume it was installed for parties like these, but she never opens the basement.”

“Who’s ‘she’?” 

“Oh, the owner of the house. Her name’s Sarah. How do you know Sarah, Dan?” Phil asked.

“I don’t even think I do. I’m sure Sterling knows her from somewhere though. As said earlier, I’m just here to socialize. How about you? You seem to know this house well.”

Phil nodded. “Yeah I do. I’m over here a lot actually. Sarah’s my girlfriend’s best friend so you know how it is. Dinner parties and get-togethers.” He chuckled but Dan was feeling no amusement. Dan was trying to hide it, but he felt a drop in his stomach at the word ‘girlfriend’.

“So you have a girlfriend then, mate?” He asked, putting a fake but very convincing smile.

Phil’s eyes filled up with warmth. “Yes, Audrey. Honestly, I don’t know how I ended up so lucky.” He chuckled a little, sitting down on the couch as well. “Wanna play some Mario Mart?” 

Dan grinned and nodded and they set up the game. 

 

OoO

 

Dan face planted into the pillow, his mind going wild. After several rounds of Mario Kart with Phil, Dan had declared he had a “fairly busy day tomorrow” and that he “truly shouldn’t get to bed too late”. In reality he had no plans for the next day whatsoever.

The moment he had walked out the door of the party, he had let his face drop, features showing how he truly felt. He felt stupid for feeling the way he did, but he was upset. He thought that he and Phil had connected _. _

Before Dan had left, Phil had given him his number and told him they should hang out sometime. As Dan had taken himself home, his thoughts were occupied with what he should do about Phil.

For years, Sterling had been Dan’s only friend. Now there was Phil who was great company and they really did get along, chemistry or not. He fell asleep, exhausted, with a dilemma in his hands. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to be updating anywhere from every few days to weekly so yes look out for more soon!


	3. ~three~

“No!” Dan stood up abruptly and slammed his fists on the table. “Impossible!”

“Possible, Danny. Very possible…” Phil taunted Dan, waving a chance card in Dan’s face. The card read “it’s your birthday!”.

They were playing monopoly as a ‘test of their friendship’, as Audrey had put it.

It had been three weeks since the party. Since then, so much had happened. After Dan had locked himself in his flat for two days, he was in desperate need of food so he had dragged himself down to Supreme Stan’s and got enough food to last him a week. As he had been buying it all, he ended up interacting with Phil who struck up conversation and invited him to hang out and play games the following Tuesday. Dan then decided it was going to be just too damn hard to resist the man with his blue eyes and gave in. He told himself he would have to deal with the fact that he had to ignore his feelings, and honestly, it could be worse.

Every time he saw Phil, his heartbeat still quickened, but he learned to not pay attention.

Then he had met Audrey. Dan had almost wanted her to be a not great person, but she was lovely and seemed kind of perfect for Phil. It hurt him in a way but he was happy for Phil and he knew his place.

Audrey laughed at Dan’s misfortune. “Ooo Danny I’m not sure you can pull back from this one.” she said to him, studying his cards and then glancing back to the ‘it’s your birthday’.

He shot a playful glare at her and Phil gave him an evil grin.

Dan mumbled.

“Excuse me?” Phil held his ear up to Dan. “Say that again?”

“I said...yuwn…”

“Repeat that?”

“I said you win.” Dan rolled his eyes but giggled a little nonetheless.

“Triumph!” Phil got up from the table and danced around the room, stopping at Audrey to give her a victory kiss. Audrey smiled at him.

“Oh Phil quit it, look at poor Danny.” she said giving him a sympathetic look. “Come to the kitchen I have cookies.” She said which immediately brightened Dan’s mood. Audrey made truly fantastic cookies.

He followed her like a lost puppy and his eyes lit up at the sight of delicious chocolate chip cookies. She handed him one and whispered “a participation prize”

Dan ignored her comment and took a bite.

“Mmm…” he closed his eyes and leaned back against the kitchen wall. “These _cookies_ Audge.”

After he had met Audrey, somehow the trio had gotten on the topic of how much Dan hated nicknames and then it began. From Danny to Danford to Danithal (which didn’t even make sense) the nicknames were neverending. ‘Danny’ was a household favorite of Audrey’s and Phil’s. He was no longer just plain old boring Dan.

Dan had tried to get Audrey back, but there didn’t seem to be too many nicknames for her other than ‘Audge’, and the occasional ‘Audgerino’. They had kind of sparked a little friendship, the two, and Dan wasn’t hating it to say the least. He quite liked Audrey. And she made lovely cookies, which was always a plus.

Phil walked in the kitchen with a huge victorious grin on his face. He grabbed a cookie, shoved it in his mouth, and pretty much had the exact reaction as Dan. He wrapped his arm around Audrey and they both practically gravitated toward the others body.

Dan rolled his eyes and Phil exclaimed “genius cookies!”. Both appropriate reactions, Dan supposed. Then Phil tilted up Audreys chin as if to kiss her and Dan nearly gagged.

“OKAY okay you hormonal teenagers, break it up. Break it up.” He said pushing through toward the door. “That’s my cue.”

Phil laughed. “Dan, I’m an adult. So far from teenager at this point”

“Still.” Dan checked his phone and then pointed to each lovebird in turn with all knowing and disapproving eyes. He turned to leave.

“Don’t forget about the barbecue tomorrow, Dan!” Phil said as Dan pulled open the door.

Dan looked over his shoulder and flashes the couple a grin. “I could never.” And then he was gone.

As he exited the building, he let the usual feeling of sadness drop in his chest, but only for a second.

 

oOo

 

“I’ll have the blueberry pancakes, please.” Dan said, stifling a laugh after taking a glance at Sterling who looked panicked as his eyes frantically scanned the menu of the diner they were eating dinner at.

“And you, Sir?” the waitress asked, giving Sterling a tentative glance.

“I’ll have the strawberry pancakes, please.” Sterling said, setting down the menu aggressively, finality and accomplishment in his voice.

The waitress nodded and took their menus and disappeared to the back.

Sterling was practically the only one Dan had told how he _truly_ felt about the whole situation with Phil and Audrey and his feelings. They went out for a weekly dinner to chat.

Dan groaned and rested his forehead against the table.

Sterling took a long sip of his drink. “Mate, maybe this isn’t such a great ide--”

“No, I’m fine, Sterling. See? Look at that smile.” He smiled uncomfortably.

“Why are you even doing this to yourself?”

“Because.”

“That’s literally not an answer.”

Dan sighed. “You’d do the same if you were in my shoes, Sterling. I’d rather deal with seeing them together than none at all. AND Audrey is actually really nice and we get along pretty well. _I_ was invited to a barbecue.” He smiled triumphantly. “Been invited to any barbecues recently, Sterling?”

“What is a ‘barbecue’ even telling you right now, Dan?”

“I’m their _friend,_ Sterling. No offence, but having more than one friend is pretty eye-opening, don’t you think?”

Sterling rolled his eyes.

The waitress appeared again with plates of food. Dan grinned and started shoveling forkfuls of pancakes into his mouth.

“Dan, don’t you think you’re gonna have to, like, _feel_ something soon? You’re around this ‘smoking hot guy’,” Dan glared at Sterling’s quotation marks. “several times a week. Who has a _girlfriend_ , one he’s quite happy with, mind you, and you’re just gonna hang out there pretending that your feelings for this...Phil aren’t existent. I mean, don’t you wanna...get something out of this?” Sterling asked.

“If you’re asking if I wanna breakup Audrey and Phil, I don’t.” Dan replied.

“Well, don’t you think it’s gonna start to hurt soon, Dan?”

Dan thought for a moment. Would he be able to handle it? A week ago, he would’ve been absolutely sure he could, but now, with his heart feeling heavy simply from the week, he wasn’t so sure. “I don’t wanna lose this friendship, Sterling. Might just take a little endurance, yeah?” he said.

Sterling sighed and took the first bite of his meal. “Whatever you say, Dan…”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you're enjoying the story so far! again, i love constructive criticism so don't be afraid to comment and all that. As always, sorry for any typos or grammar mistakes. My tumblr is sea-of-your-starry-eyes if you'd like to immerse yourself in more dan and phil shit! hope everyone had a lovely weekend


	4. ~four~

“Barbecues are where dreams go to die.”

“Sterling,” Dan glared at him while grabbing his sunglasses. “please shut up.”

Sterling was stood in front of Dans’ door, attempting to keep him home for the barbecue. Dan was not having it. He moved for his keys and glared at Sterling once more, before reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a wad of cash.

“Sterling I will pay you to move aside.” he waved the money in Sterling’s face.

“I have a bad feeling about this!”

“IT’S A BARBECUE.” Dan exclaimed.

“ONE FULL OF CRUSHED SOULS AND PROBABLY OVERCOOKED BURGERS. NOBODY LIKES OVERCOOKED BURGERS MATE.” Sterling yelled back.

Dan tapped his foot impatiently. “Come along with me then, Sterling.”

“Daniel, you know I’m vegetarian.”

Dan threw his hands up in exasperation. “Please move Sterling.” He shoved the money into his hand and Sterling reluctantly stepped aside.

Sterling rested his hand on Dan’s arm. “Something’s gonna go down, Dan. I can feel it in my leg hair.”

Dan just stared at him. “That literally just made everything else you’ve said, invalid.”

Sterling shrugged with defeat and Dan left with a thud of the door closing it.

The whole ride over, he couldn’t help but to wonder what exactly Sterling thought was going to happen. But, regardless, he didn’t exactly give a shit so he just continued toward Phil and Audrey’s. 

Phil opened the door with a ‘kiss the cook’ apron and a huge smile and invited him in. He led Dan out to the back where there was a grill with all sorts of burgers, hot dogs, and chicken. Alongside the grill, was Audrey who gave him a weak wave of hello and Audrey’s best friend Sarah and her girlfriend, Annie. Phil introduced him to the ladies and then went back to his cooking while he left Dan to conversate.

“Hey there Danio.” Said Audrey giving him a small, relaxed smile

“Hey Audge.” He rolled his eyes.

“You’ve met Sarah?”

“I’ve attended one of her parties, but never said hello.” Dan chucked and held out his hand. “I’m Dan.”

Sarah studied him. She was quite pretty, but a contrast to her girlfriend. Sarah was tall and had what seemed like an ‘art hoe’ vibe with blond hair, green eyes, big glasses, and embroidered jeans with a big yellow sweater, despite it being the middle of July. Her girlfriend, on the other hand, simply wore camo pants and a black tank top with her short black hair tied back. Despite the differences, Dan could clearly tell on sight that they worked. Annie was softly playing with Sarah’s long hair and Sarah had a content smile on her face. 

Sarah shook Dan’s hand. “Nice to meet you…”

Dan raised his eyebrows with a chuckle. “You seem skeptical.”

“Hm, sorry. It’s just that when Phil said his friend Daniel was coming over, I didn’t exactly expect you. Phil likes,” she leaned in with a whisper only Dan could hear “the darker ones. You seem softer.” she eyed Dan’s pastel t-shirt and soft curls and leaned back with a shrug. “Just not what I was expecting.”

Dan nodded, slightly confused. What exactly did  _ that _ mean?

Audrey interrupted Dans thoughts. “Phil makes the best barbecue food I’ve ever had.” She grinned “You’re all in for a treat.”

Phil flashed them a smile. “At least nothing has caught on fire, folks.” Everyone chuckled thinking about how clumsy Phil could be.

Audrey laughed. “Okay once, Phil overflowed the bathroom while attempting to take a nice relaxing bath and he opened the door after making tea and the force of the water  _ pushed  _ him a little down the hallway and we were forced out of our house for three days while it got fixed.”

“It was an accident!”

“How does that even happen Phil?” Annie asked giggling.

“I just wanted some herbal tea! And I left the water running not knowing tea would take so long to make…”

The evening went along just like that, and Dan got a few stories of his own in the mix. Phil’s chicken was truly delicious. Dan didn’t feel uncomfortable or left out once and it was a strange feeling to him. 

The evening started to slow down after everyone had ate and was full. They all sat on patio chairs with drinks chatting. Audrey and her friends were going on and on about some drama going on at the office. Phil pretended to fall asleep during the story.

Audrey slapped him lightly on the arm and he rubbed it tenderly. “Why don’t you and Dan go play games then if you’re  _ so _ bored.”

Phil scoffed. “I think we will.”

He stood up and started for the door while Dan followed him. He gave Audrey a quick hug first though, and whispered a thank you so Phil wouldn’t hear. She gave him a smile and waved him along.

Once inside, Phil grinned at Dan. “Whatcha wanna do Danny boy?” 

Dan cocked his head and laughed. “Well that’s a new one.”

Phil leaned in and whispered. “I’ve been working on it all evening.”

Dan shook his head with a fond smile at Phil.  “I love it. Let’s play a game.”

“Ooh what kind of game?”

“The best kind.”

“Very clear, Daniel.”

The two men found themselves playing UNO, also known as ‘the other friendship destroying card game’. Dan had set up his hand with several wild cards and draw fours. Phils’ tongue peaked out his lip as he concentrated. Dan internally laughed at his innocence. Phil finally placed down a red seven on top of a blue seven and grinned with triumph.

“Ha! Color change Daniel. Try me now.” 

And Dan did indeed. 

Long story short, Dan beat Phil  _ very _ badly. Dan got on his knees and threw the cards at the pile of ‘draw four’s in front of them. 

“HA! Phil Lester you may beat me at monopoly, but UNO? I think the fuck not! Feel the shame Phillip!” 

Phil pouted and glanced up at Dan, turning his cards toward him. “Loooook Dannn I was about to win!”

Dan leaned in close to his face. “Not close enough Philly.” 

Phil rolled his eyes and pouted some more “fine.” 

They seemed to have a mini staring contest and as hard as Dan tried he truly couldn’t help but to admire the gorgeous ice blue speckled with gold. He glanced down at Phil’s lips. In another world, he would’ve kissed them that instant, they were so inviting. He glanced up and Phil was looking at Dan, concentrating.

Then, Dan remembered Audrey and he awkwardly cleared his throat and leaned away from him. “So, how’s work going?”

Phil looked away “Alright,” he looked back at Dan, any trace of discomfort or longing far gone from his eyes “the other day, a woman came in and asked me if we sold dogs. I mean, I know we advertise we have ‘any household item’, but a dog?” He chuckled.

Dan smiled along at the story. “I love dogs. I’ve always wanted one of my own.”

Phil sighed. “I keep telling Audrey we need to get one but she says they’re too messy or something. And she wants kids! What does she think kids are!” 

Dan laughed as Audge peeked her head in. 

“Having fun boys?”

Phil flashed her a smile as an answer.

She rolled her eyes. “Okay Sarah and Annie are leaving if you wanna go Dan.”

Dan started to get up. He glanced at Phil. “Well that’s my cue mate. Thanks for the amazing food.”

Phil smiled at him. “Anytime.”

oOo

When Dan got home there was a single light on in the kitchen.

“Hey Sterling!” he called out.

There was a pause. “This isn’t Sterling...this is...uh...a--yeah! A serial killer.”

Dan wandered in to see Sterling leaning against his sink eating goldfish. “Did you ever even leave my home, Sterling?”

He shrugged. “I kinda just ate your food and watched movies. How was the barbecue, Dan?”

He gave a pointed look at Sterling. “ _ Really  _ good.”

Sterling rolled his eyes and started to grab his things to go “Glad it went well, Dan.”

Dan grinned. “Yup. Now, you’ve been here too long, get out.” he said playfully.

“Already on it.” He smiled big at Dan. “Goodnight Daniel.” he let the door close behind him.

As he left, all Dan could think about was that moment that for a split second, he had seen longing traced on Phil’s lips and eyes while looking at him...

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the delayed update! I've had some things going on in my life on top of a speculative fiction short story and two expository speeches for my creative writing classes. I'm drowning in writing! hope everyone's doing great. thank you for the nice comments :) i'm hoping to update sooner this week. hope you enjoyed!


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